Verse of the Day for October 19

The order of these two verses is the whole lesson. First the gift: thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then the command: be ye stedfast, unmoveable. The word that joins them is Therefore.

Paul does not say be steadfast so that you might win. He says you have been given the victory, so be steadfast. Endurance flows out of something you already hold, not toward something you are trying to grab.

These lines close the great resurrection chapter. Paul has just spoken of death losing its sting. If death itself is defeated, then a hard season at work or a slow year in ministry is not the final word either.

And there is one more thing you already have. Ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Not you hope, not you suspect. You know. Paul expects believers to carry that knowledge into dull, unseen work and to keep always abounding in it.

Think of the woman who has kept the same market stall for twenty years, opening the shutters before dawn, greeting the same faces. Faithfulness in small things done for the Lord is not thrown away. It counts, because the victory under it is already secure.

Nothing done in the Lord is wasted, even the parts nobody thanks you for.

Steadiness comes easier when you remember what you have already been given.